The Color of Chinese Bellflowers
Chapter twelve: Papillon échappé
Disclaimer: Loveless is property of Yun Kouga.
A/N: This is an original AU fic. The title of this chapter papillon échappé is french for 'escaped butterfly.' I'm sorry this one is so much shorter than the others! TT
Maiko - like a Jr. Geisha, the level before becoming a geisha
'Ka-san - Japanese for "mother"
Nippon - Japan
Haorii - a kimono coat
"Hey you, wake up! What are you doing sleeping out here anyway?" Natsuo's fists were placed firmly on his slender hips and his lips formed a scowl when he kicked the sleeping Kio in the side. Kio had promised a slumbering Soubi he would stay up through the night incase Ritsuka returned home, and he did just that. Well, sort of. The youth had fallen asleep about an hour before sunrise, being too used to falling asleep early. Work around the okiya even though it didn't sound very difficult took a toll on the two maids. Kio more so than Yuiko.
Sure before he had became Soubi's maid the two would lounge around each other's okiya at all hours of the morning smoking and secretly looking at adult drawings they found here and there. Confiding in each other, experimenting with a lot of things they wouldn't dare bring back up now. It was a bit scandalous, at the time Soubi was an inexperienced Maiko(0) and Kio was just a normal friend that stopped by. No one knew that late at night Kio snuck into the okiya to be with his friend.
That is, until Soubi met Seimei. After that Kio only saw his older friend fawning over the wavy haired man, and then he left. When Seimei left, Soubi was never quite the same no matter how many jokes Kio told him or how many drinks he passed around. Ritsuka though, had drastically changed that and without even knowing.
"Eto, five more minutes ka-san."(1) Kio mumbled as he rolled over, getting more cozy with the small front doorstep.
"I'm not your mother, now get up off of the street and come inside!" Natsuo was being much less than patient this morning.
Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he rubbed his head. "Did Ritsuka come back? He didn't sneak past me did he?"
"No he's still missing, and Yuiko needs your help with the dishes."
He hopped up off of the street, brushing off his winter kimono and stepped inside. "Is Soubi awake yet?"
Natsuo looked down and away, "no he's still asleep. I went to check in Ritsuka's room this morning and he apparently slept in there."
"Wow, he slept in the Aoyagi brat's room? When I saw him last night he had fallen asleep in the dressing room."
"Aoyagi brat?" Natsuo's eyebrows pulled together in suspicion.
"Eh heh, don't worry that's just kind of an inside joke between me and Soubi. Uhm, anyway go and wake him up or he'll get a headache from sleeping too late."
Natsuo frowned and kicked over a nearby shoe. "I'm not his keeper why don't you wake him up?"
Kio scowled down at him. "Whatever, he'll wake up eventually." Rubbing the back of his head, he mumbled something about ungrateful brats and walked his way to the kitchen.
"Ohayou Yuiko!" he called cheerfully.
"Good morning to you too K-kun." She was taking great care not to drop the slippery dishes back into the sink and break them.
Great Kio mumbled to himself, she remembered that nickname I let her use. "Sorry for not coming in to help you earlier, I kind of fell asleep outside." he smiled sheepishly.
"It's ok, Yuiko's got the job under control!" Playfully a soapy wet hand reached up out of the water into a triumphant fist.
Kio giggled, and as he walked by the table he caught the headline of this mornings newspaper.
Large snowstorm expected to blow through the region within the next few days, the following districts are heeded to take warning.
Kio's Asian slitted eyes glanced over the long lists of areas that they expect to be effected. Damn, one fourth of Nippon(2) is on this list! he thought. It must be one big storm. Shrugging it off he rolled up the sleeves of his kimono and picked up a dirty rice bowl. "Yuiko?"
"Yes?" she looked up at him smiling.
"When Ritsuka comes back, do you think you'll still love him?"
Looking down into the soapy water, she had a sad look on her face. "I'm not sure I can. Lately I've gotten this feeling that Ritsuka belongs with Mr. Soubi. Whenever Mr. Soubi looks at him, I see this overwhelming emotion in his eyes. Even Ritsuka acts different around him, trying to please him and he's always asking me if his hair is straight or if his kimono is in place. He worries a lot about his appearance when Mr. Soubi is in the room."
Kio hadn't known that about the younger Aoyagi brother, "the night Ritsuka ran away Soubi stayed awake all night, sitting on the front step waiting for him to come home."
Yuiko gasped, "really? He doesn't have a cold does he?"
Kio shook his head, that pure hearted side of Yuiko always got to him. "No no he's just fine, I'm sure he's pretty lonely without Ritsuka though."
That sad look came over the young girl again. Her dishwashing pace slowed and her mind seemed to be somewhere far away from their little okiya.
"Hey, I understand how you feel about Ritsuka. And incase it doesn't work out I'll always be waiting for you on the sidelines, does that sound okay?" Kio was really sticking his neck out on this one, and if Soubi ever found out he'd never live it down. But much to his relief the younger girl blushed and smiled softly, "it does. It sounds okay. Thank you very much, K-kun."
The older man shivered, "it's about that time of the year to take out the heavier blankets, isn't it Yuiko?"
She nodded, "yes it is."
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Youji and Natsuo wondered about the streets of Gion, looking carefully into each alleyway that branched off of the roads and in to any other nooks they were able to spot. Natsuo shivered, and not two seconds later Youji's arms were around him. Despite their extra haori(3), the maroon haired geisha shivered. "Hey w-wasn't Soubi searching for Ritsuka with us?"
His sea foam haired counterpart nodded, "I think he went off to talk to some people he knows though. You know, to see if they've seen him. Hopefully one of them has been taking care of him..."
Natsuo nodded absent mindedly. They continued to walk their chilly path in silence, continuing to look for the third geisha in their little 'triple threat' pack Soubi owned. Youji and Natsuo had been spreading word of Ritsuka's absence around the various nightly visits they still did. Many patrons had become worried, but the two of them knew that the more people they told, that many more people would be searching for their friend. With the large number of people that knew he was missing, they were surprised no word of him had turned up. Trying to lighten the mood, Youji spoke up in his usual loud voice. "That Soubi sure is a weird man!"
"What do you mean by that?" his other half asked.
"Well I mean he's always doing things just to make Ritsuka happy. He took in three complete strangers off of the street just to make the guy smile!" Mustering up the best smirk he could he looked at Natsuo with a devilish hint in his eyes, "hey hey, do you think Soubi could be..."
"Could be ... ?"
"Could be a pervert?!"
Natsuo gasped and blushed. "I never thought of their relationship like that... but that's impossible Ritsuka still has his ears!"
Youji raised his hands in a ghostly manner, making a scary face. "Maybe he's trying to seduce him and that will all change!"
"I guess then I'm a pervert too." Natsuo pouted without realizing it. Youji immediately threw down is act, remembering that Natsuo had tried to take his own ears. "No no we're completely different. Besides, I was only playing."
Natsuo's pout turned into a small smile. "I know. I fooled you, you thought I was mad!" he giggled that mischievous giggle that Youji loved to hear.
"Yeah yeah, well whatever." Smiling, he wrapped an arm around his counterpart. "Now to find that pain in the ass Ritsuka."
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Tadaima." Natsuo said glumly as he lazily pushed open the front door.
"Did you find him, did you find Ritsuka?" Yuiko's voice chirped as she happily bounded out of the storage closet, where she had been putting away the more warm weather type kimono.
Youji stepped in and kicked his shoes off, the corners of his lips tugged downward into a frown. "No sign of our star geisha anywhere."
Sighing, Yuiko bent into the floor fixing the shoes into a neat orderly pattern. "I hope someone is taking care of Ritsuka, it's getting very cold outside." She tried her best not to let her worry leak through her voice, although that didn't help very much.
"Has Soubi come back from searching?" Natsuo asked, he seemed to be the only one keeping his emotions under control in the room.
"Not yet, but dinner is waiting for the both of you in the kitchen." Politely she bowed. "I already ate so I won't be joining you tonight." Saying nothing else, she slumped back down the hallway to her room. The nearby kitchen door slid open, Kio's lithe body leaned against the frame. "You guys 'gonna eat or what?"
"Someone's in a bad mood." Youji scoffed.
"Wow you're a psychic kid, now go and eat." Kio ran his fingers roughly through this hair in frustration. Youji was about to protest, when Natsuo grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen shutting the door behind them. Taking out a cigarette and lighting it up Kio took a long drag. He didn't smoke nearly as much as Soubi, but it was at high tension times like this when he felt that he needed it. Whatever Ritsuka was thinking, he hoped the thought of coming back home popped into his mind soon. His friend just wasn't the same without him, much like he was with Seimei. Ugh, Seimei Kio gritted his teeth.
The two had met during Soubi's limited days as a geisha. Seimei immediately took a liking to him, used him and then left. Soubi never fully understood that he'd been used. He always thought what he did for Seimei was out of love, but Kio knew better. It's a terrible feeling, watching your friend being used. Kio tried to make him realize that but Soubi would always stare back with an empathetic face, protesting with "he loves me." Sometimes, Kio thought Soubi knew he was being abused and enjoyed it. What a masochist his friend was. Just as he finished thinking about him, said friend stumbled through the door.
Soubi looked straight into Kio's eyes. The blonde had never looked so utterly broken. He blinked, then walked his way to the stairs. Although, his step was different. He was walking kind of funny. "Soubi? Did you hurt yourself or something?"
He was blatantly ignored. He watched as his seemingly injured friend gingerly made his way up the stairs and onto the second floor. Tripping over the last step he landed on his elbows with a thud. "Soubi!" Kio called after him, rushing up the stairs. His friend grunted in reply, as Kio pulled him back up to his feet and pulled Soubi's arm over his shoulder for support. "What in the hell happened to you?" He asked, anger tingeing the under tones of his voice.
"I went ... to go see Ritsu."
Kio looked confused. "Did he beat you up or something?"
"It seems that Ritsu and Seimei have become good friends, he was there..."
Kio's face paled. "Exactly what happened?" He helped his friend get to his room and closed the door behind him.
"I asked for their assistance in finding Ritsuka." As he spoke, he shrugged out of his haori.
"And they said they hadn't seen him but," he untied his obi and let his kimono fall off of his form, his back turned to his good friend.
"In exchange for this they will tell me if they see him." Fresh yet shallow lines of blood criss-crossed over the naked blonde's back.
"And I'm not allowed to tell Ritsuka that Seimei is his brother." A look of deep hurt ran across the man's face.
Kio gasped, staring in awe at what the men had done to Soubi's bare skin. "You just let them do that to you?" An age old anger rose in his voice.
"It is Ritsu's usual fee. Seimei wanted a little more though, I'm afraid." Soubi seemed pleased at that last fact.
"You let that bastard use your body again didn't you? And how are you going to deal with that when Ritsuka finds out?" His hands placed firmly on his hips, his eyes couldn't help but to glance over the bruised and scratched skin that reached down Soubi's back and to his buttocks.
"Ritsuka will not find out and ... what I did was in exchange for a higher chance of Ritsuka to return home safely." He closed his eyes, seemingly satisfied with justifying himself.
Kio took a few too loud steps forward, and grabbed Soubi's wrist harshly spinning him around. His hand connected to the blonde's cheek with a loud smack! Soubi's eyes shot open wide in confusion at his old friend. "You're supposed to be with Ritsuka. The next time you go off to Seimei just think about how he would feel about that! Seimei could never come close to actually caring about you like that kid does. I'm surprised you don't know that already."
"Maybe you're right, Kio." Soubi said with a sad smile. This wasn't the first time Kio had slapped him, it used to happen a lot when Soubi first lost his ears. Soubi had one night on a split second decision, lost his ears to his beloved Seimei. And it happened about two hours after Kio warned him about being used by the older Aoyagi.
"Do you know what Seimei said to me, after that first time?" The blonde asked.
Kio flinched, wondering if he should really ask. "What did he say to you?"
"I hate you Agatsuma Soubi, don't ever forget that."
PREVIEW FOR CHAPTER THIRTEEN - February 1st, 2008
Ritsuka raised his head slowly and shakily. His body shook with violent tremors, beneath the haori he wore. Soubi wondered where he got it but then shrugged off the thought, being glad he atleast had one. Large and slightly rounded eyes stared up at the older man and warm tears spilled over the brim of them down his face.
"S-s-soubi?" his teeth chattered together.